Director of Design, Strategy & Growth

The Director of Design, Strategy & Growth leads strategic design initiatives and capabilities development efforts across Nava. They play a critical role in growing Nava's design practice and enabling us to stay at the forefront of how modern design teams work.  The Director of Design builds the Design Org's leadership practice by leading mentorship, coaching, and capabilities-focused professional development efforts. They will report to the VP of Design and work closely with peers in Engineering, Product, Program Delivery, and Business Development to advance Nava’s mission and goals. 

The scope of this role will flex with the needs of the practice and the candidate's strengths. We expect every Director of Design to be a strong general leader of the practice, with the ability to provide strong leadership on AI enablement and developing modern design teams.

• Foster a collaborative and delivery-focused design culture, promoting a high standard of design excellence and user-centered thinking
• Lead capabilities-focused professional development opportunities across the Design Org
• Shape how the Design practice adopts AI, identifying opportunities, piloting approaches, scaling what works, and coaching Designers in building AI-informed workflows on their teams.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams, including product management, engineering, and business development, to ensure design is strategic in all phases of company growth
• Stay up-to-date with design trends, industry standards, and emerging technologies to drive innovation

• Manage a team of up to eight direct reports across multiple projects
• Act as a sounding board for design team members at Nava, coaching them through challenges, helping to review and structure their work, and providing coverage when necessary
• Guide teams in applying Nava's cross-functional delivery model and human-centered system integration expertise to build modern, user-centered products that achieve strong outcomes for clients.
• Other duties as required

• Actively contribute to Nava's decisions on which strategic work to pursue
• Contribute directly to business development through activities such as proposal development, solutioning, reviews, tech challenges, or market research presentations
• Identify, develop, and scale new Delivery capabilities in the Design Org
• Serve as a strategic partner by influencing and shaping Nava’s approach to growth

• A skilled practitioner with deep experience in creative, strategic, technical, managerial, and operational aspects of human-centered design at scale
• A proven leader who has experience managing complexity, developing strategy, and conducting long-term planning
• In-depth experience cultivating strong relationships with external stakeholders and partners
• 10+ years of experience as a human-centered design practitioner 
• 5+ years of direct people management experience and team leadership
• Communicates with clarity and credibility in all channels and formats, across audiences including executive leadership, external clients, peer collaborators, direct reports, and cross-functional delivery teams 
• Ability to develop, build, and maintain productive relationships at all levels of leadership, management, and the organization

• Demonstrated AI leadership in a design organization: setting and executing AI strategy, scaling AI workflows across multiple design teams, and building AI products. 
• Experience managing the business dynamics in a professional services firm (billable hours, contract portfolios, client services skills)
• Experience and bias toward a “company-builder” frame of mind
• Track record of introducing and expanding agile transformation and pursuing best practices in design management with clients and stakeholders